A-Rod reaches Reggie, Yankees outslug Braves
Baseball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez moved into a tie for 11th place on the all-time home run list and finished with four runs batted in to lead the New York Yankees to an 11-7 win over the Atlanta Braves in the rubber match of a three-game interleague series at Turner Field.
Rodriguez belted the 563rd homer of his illustrious career and in the process moved into a tie with former Yankee great Reggie Jackson.
Johnny Damon also drove in four runs while Derek Jeter posted four hits and four runs scored for the Yankees, who have won two straight following a three- game skid and will return to New York for a weekend "Subway" series at Citi Field against the Mets. Cody Ransom added two RBI in the win.
Andy Pettitte started on the mound for the Yankees but did not factor in the decision. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs -- three earned -- on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Derek Lowe (7-6) toed the rubber for the Braves and was charged in defeat with eight runs, six of which were earned, on 11 hits in three-plus innings of work.
Yunel Escobar knocked in three runs for the Braves, who have dropped four of their last six games overall. Casey Kotchman notched two RBI in the loss.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees held an 11-6 lead and David Robertson was on the hill. He was greeted by Brian McCann's leadoff homer over the wall in right field. With one out, Garret Anderson singled before Robertson fanned Jeff Francoeur. Pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco posted an infield single to put runners on the corners.
Mariano Rivera entered from the bullpen and induced a game-ending fly out off the bat of Diory Hernandez for his 17th save of the season and the 499th of his career.
The Yankees opened the scoring early with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Consecutive singles Jeter and Damon preceded a double-play grounder off the bat of Mark Teixeira. On the play, Jeter scored. The next batter was Rodriguez, whose milestone solo homer gave the visitors a two-run lead.
Escobar's RBI double in the home first cut the Braves' deficit in half.
An RBI single by Rodriguez in the second inning made it 3-1.
In the top of the third, the Yankees loaded the bases. One-out base hits by Brett Gardner and Ransom preceded a two-out walk to Jeter and Damon then cleared the bases with a triple for a 6-1 advantage.
Ransom's two-run double in the fourth, which brought home Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, increased the Bombers' lead to seven.
Pettitte found trouble in the bottom of the fourth, though not all of it was his fault. He surrendered a single to Anderson and a double to Francoeur that put runners on second and third. The next batter was Kotchman, who roped a double to right field and drew the Braves within 8-3.
Pettitte then plunked pinch-hitter Matt Diaz and with one out, Martin Prado's fly ball to shallow center was mishandled by Gardner and fell to the grass, allowing Kotchman to score. Chipper Jones drew a walk to load the bases but Pettitte worked hard to strike out McCann. Escobar, though, singled to right scoring both Diaz and Prado.
Alfredo Aceves (5-1) entered from the New York bullpen and struck out Anderson to avoid further damage. Aceves ended with 2 1/3 scoreless frames of relief.
A two-run single by Rodriguez in the seventh padded the New York lead to 10-6.
In between Phil Coke's scoreless relief innings in the seventh and eighth for the Yanks, Damon's RBI single capped the New York offensive output.
Game Notes
This marked the first trip to Atlanta by the Yankees since 2000...The Yankees outhit the Braves, 16-13...Jeter stole his 17th base of the season and raised his batting average to .308...The contest took 3 hours, 49 minutes to complete...The Yankees improved to 12-10 all-time against the Braves in interleague play.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.